Europe 2016

A 25-day adventure by Sarah Read more

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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 14
Wednesday, November 2, 2016 at 3:37 PM
☀️ 73 °F
Altitude: 974 ft
Portugal Monsaraz 38.4424, -7.3816738°26’33” N 7°22’54” W
Castelo de Monsaraz Arena
November 2, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F
We biked all the way up the large hill and then climbed the castle wall. Beautiful view and I am so glad I had an e-bike.
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 14
Wednesday, November 2, 2016 at 8:13 PM
🌙 64 °F
Altitude: 938 ft
Portugal Evora 38.57121, -7.9145638°34’16” N 7°54’52” W
another amazing dinner in Portugal
November 2, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 64 °F
This was our last dinner in Évora. Once again more food than we could finish.
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 15
Thursday, November 3, 2016 at 7:08 AM
☀️ 54 °F
Altitude: 902 ft
Portugal Evora 38.56901, -7.9133838°34’8” N 7°54’48” W
last morning in Évora
November 3, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F
It is all foggy and quite pretty. We were up and out and on the train to Lisbon by 9 am. We were both very sad to leave the Alentejo (this region of Portugal). It has been our favorite stop so far on this trip.Read more
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 15
Thursday, November 3, 2016 at 12:46 PM
⛅ 68 °F
Altitude: 148 ft
Portugal University of Lisbon Botanical Garden 38.71974, -9.1474938°43’11” N 9°8’51” W
Lisbon
November 3, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F
Navigating the train and metro and walking in the city to get to our hotel with all our luggage (6 bottles of wine and a bunch of cork souvenirs including a small chair!) Was a tad difficult, but a fun adventure that adds spice to the trip.

Our room was ready, so we settled in before heading off for a little walk to a nearby laundromat (to see if they have a washing service - they do) and then to the train station to catch a train to Sintra.

Many of the buildings are completely covered with tile on the facade.Read more
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 15
Thursday, November 3, 2016 at 2:02 PM
⛅ 70 °F
Altitude: 374 ft
Portugal Queluz 38.75443, -9.2658438°45’16” N 9°15’57” W
on the train to Sintra
November 3, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
Greg and Rhonda will meet us there. They have been there a full day so they can play tour guide for us. They have picnic food and we have wine so we should make a great match.
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 15
Thursday, November 3, 2016 at 3:00 PM
⛅ 70 °F
Altitude: 669 ft
Portugal Sintra 38.79937, -9.3859238°47’58” N 9°23’9” W
wandering Sintra
November 3, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F
Sintra is a small tourist town not far from Lisbon. It was the home of the royal palace and so a lot of nobles also built vacation homes in the area.
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 15
Thursday, November 3, 2016 at 6:40 PM
⛅ 64 °F
Altitude: 692 ft
Portugal Sintra 38.79932, -9.3853938°47’58” N 9°23’7” W
Moorish Castle
November 3, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F
We hiked all the way up to a semi-ruined castle that was originally built by Moors. There was a bus that would take us up, but of course we decided to challenge ourselves.

By the time we reached the very top of the castle, it was sunset, which means it got darker and darker on the long walk down the hill. But we made it safely in the end.

The view from the top was totally worth it!Read more
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 16
Friday, November 4, 2016 at 8:42 AM
⛅ 63 °F
Altitude: Sea level
Portugal Belém Tower 38.69167, -9.21538°41’30” N 9°12’54” W
morning in Lisbon
November 4, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F
It is cool and rainy and a little foggy on our first morning. We are on a short bus tour of the city.

By the time we got to the first stop, the sun was starting to come out.

This was the Belem Tower. It was originally in the middle of the river, but the giant earthquake that Lisbon suffered in the 18th century changed the river course and now it is right on the river bank.Read more
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 16
Friday, November 4, 2016 at 9:00 AM
⛅ 63 °F
Altitude: Sea level
Portugal Monument to the Discoveries 38.69333, -9.20538°41’36” N 9°12’18” W
next stop on Lisbon tour
November 4, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F
Next we went to a monument to the explorers of Portugal, but the building is under restoration so couldn't get a photo of it, but we learned a lot about all the people who helped build the Portuguese empireRead more
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 16
Friday, November 4, 2016 at 9:45 AM
⛅ 64 °F
Altitude: 10 ft
Portugal Jardim do Ultramar 38.69667, -9.2033338°41’48” N 9°12’12” W
pastry and church
November 4, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F
Then we went and got a special pastry made only at this one shop in Lisbon. There is a very similar version sold everywhere else, but this one shop has the original recipe they bought from the monks who created it. They sell tens of thousands of these every day.

Then we stopped at this giant church built to care for the sailors coming in and out of the port of Lisbon.Read more
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 16
Friday, November 4, 2016 at 11:16 AM
⛅ 68 °F
Altitude: 13 ft
Portugal Jardim do Ultramar 38.69667, -9.20538°41’48” N 9°12’18” W
Al Fama district
November 4, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F
The rain stopped just when we had to get off the bus again.

The Al Fama district is the old Moorish and Jewish quarter. It was built outside the city walls, on the bank of the river. As the city walls expanded, the district got squeezed smaller and smaller to the point where the buildings are so small, the second (and higher) stories extend out a little bit to grab every square inch of space that they can.Read more
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 16
Friday, November 4, 2016 at 3:05 PM
⛅ 66 °F
Altitude: 184 ft
Portugal Jardim do Principe Real 38.71757, -9.1472538°43’3” N 9°8’50” W
nap, laundry and wandering
November 4, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F
I hadn't slept well the night before, so by the time we finished the bus tour, I was ready to crash. So we went back to the hotel and I took a brief nap.

Then it was time to drop off our laundry with this very nice French lady who did our washing and had it ready for us that evening

All the restaurants were closed by then and so we just went and had a light snack at a snack barRead more
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 16
Friday, November 4, 2016 at 6:22 PM
⛅ 63 °F
Altitude: 69 ft
Portugal Lisbon Cathedral 38.70986, -9.1325638°42’35” N 9°7’57” W
another Moorish castle at sunset
November 4, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F
We decided to hike up to the Moorish castle that overlooks the city, but we got there just after they closed. Just as well. I found out the next day that the castle was destroyed in the earthquake and so this is actually a reproduction.

We did find an interesting church and an interesting street sign on the way down the hill.Read more
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 17
Saturday, November 5, 2016 at 1:00 PM
🌧 61 °F
Altitude: 16 ft
Portugal Cais do Sodré 38.70711, -9.1457638°42’26” N 9°8’45” W
on our own in Lisbon
November 5, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 61 °F
This is the last day we are in our own on this tripv we tried to get up and out early, but by the time we got up, had breakfast, and left the hotel, it was past noon.

So we wandered off to explore the town. It started raining quite hard. We eventually made our way to a large indoor produce market and had a nice lunch at a restaurant upstairs. The giant food court in the market also was interesting to see.Read more
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 17
Saturday, November 5, 2016 at 3:00 PM
⛅ 61 °F
Altitude: 13 ft
Portugal Cais do Sodré 38.70667, -9.14538°42’24” N 9°8’42” W
Coach Museum
November 5, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F
Then we were off to a museum of horse drawn carriages. It was pretty cool, but not earth shattering or anything.
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 17
Saturday, November 5, 2016 at 9:25 PM
🌙 55 °F
Altitude: 102 ft
Portugal University of Lisbon Botanical Garden 38.71966, -9.1460138°43’11” N 9°8’46” W
last dinner in Lisbon
November 5, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 55 °F
We found a little place that was mostly full of locals and had one more authentic Portuguese meal with a great wine.
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 18
Sunday, November 6, 2016 at 12:00 PM
☀️ 57 °F
Altitude: 295 ft
Portugal University of Coimbra 40.20709, -8.4264940°12’26” N 8°25’35” W
leaving Lisbon
November 6, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F
We boarded a bus and headed off north to board the boat. We stopped on our way at a university in Coimbra. It was built in the 1700s and is still a working university.
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 18
Sunday, November 6, 2016 at 6:00 PM
☀️ 57 °F
Altitude: 335 ft
Portugal Ribeira do Riboizial 41.15818, -7.1413741°9’29” N 7°8’29” W
boarding the boat
November 6, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F
They had to move the boat from Porto to another port up river because we don't have as much daylight that they normally would to get to our next destination. The bus drivers got a little lost but we eventually arrived and had an easy time getting settled in.Read more
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 19
Monday, November 7, 2016 at 7:30 AM
☀️ 59 °F
Altitude: 299 ft
Portugal Rio Sabor 41.17703, -7.1141641°10’37” N 7°6’51” W
Setting sail
November 7, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F
Early morning the boat set out and the scenery was just beautiful.
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 19
Monday, November 7, 2016 at 10:00 AM
☀️ 46 °F
Altitude: 253 ft
Portugal Ribeiro de Temilobos 41.14167, -7.7033341°8’30” N 7°42’12” W
Rabelo boat
November 7, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 46 °F
We left the boat in the morning for a very short bus ride to bypass a lock and then we boarded a small rabelo boat of the kind that was traditionally used to bring the port wine to Porto.

We had about an hour on the boat to take us to the winery location.Read more
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 19
Monday, November 7, 2016 at 12:00 PM
⛅ 52 °F
Altitude: 587 ft
Portugal Rio Tedo 41.16333, -7.6283341°9’48” N 7°37’42” W
winery tour
November 7, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 52 °F
The winery was in a gorgeous location up on a hill and the scenery was just amazing.
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 20
Tuesday, November 8, 2016 at 8:30 AM
⛅ 52 °F
Altitude: 2,178 ft
Spain Arroyo Grande 40.9868, -6.5574540°59’12” N 6°33’27” W
first lock
November 8, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 52 °F
The next morning, I saw my first lock transition on this ship. The ship had actually done 3 so far that we missed, so this was exciting. We tried to watch from the upper deck, but there was so little clearance they had to send us one deck down.Read more
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 20
Tuesday, November 8, 2016 at 10:00 AM
⛅ 52 °F
Altitude: 440 ft
Portugal Ribeira da Salgada 41.13667, -7.11541°8’12” N 7°6’54” W
second lock
November 8, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 52 °F
Just a couple hours later, we went through our second lock. This is the last one on our upstream journey
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 20
Tuesday, November 8, 2016 at 4:00 PM
☀️ 46 °F
Altitude: 2,602 ft
Portugal Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo Municipality 40.87667, -6.96540°52’36” N 6°57’54” W
castle on the hill
November 8, 2016 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 46 °F
After a nap (I skipped lunch - sleep was more appealing) we boarded another bus for a short ride to medieval village on a hillside. The village still has a small number of inhabitants. Russell made a new friend.Read more
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Europe 2016 Sarah McCabe
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Day 21
Wednesday, November 9, 2016 at 8:00 AM
🌬 48 °F
Altitude: 2,559 ft
Spain Arroyo del Zurguén 40.96, -5.6716740°57’36” N 5°40’18” W
Salamanca, Spain
November 9, 2016 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 48 °F
The boat is docked just over the border in Spain. This day we had to get up early for a two hour ride to the town of Salamanca, home of one of the oldest universities in Europe. It was opened in 1218 and is still operating.

The town itself also had some cool old sites.Read more
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